Doubting Thomas

It’s been a big week for neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell, and an even bigger one for those who’ve been warning that something about his public escapades just doesn’t pass the pub test.

First, he gatecrashes the Victorian Premier’s press conference. Then he’s seen leading a masked mob in a violent ambush on an Aboriginal protest camp. Then he’s arrested and charged with multiple offences. All this, while supposedly a convicted criminal with a history of violent extremism.

And yet, for all the press coverage, the bigger story is still being ignored: how does a man with this record keep showing up right when the establishment needs a headline distraction?

Senator Alex Antic took such concerns about the National Socialist Network (NSN) and its frontman into the Senate yesterday:

“These men have been turning up to similar events every now and then. Mostly masked, but sometimes not, and certainly right on cue... Their stunts seem almost like pantomime. One would say cartoon-like if the subject matter wasn’t so appalling.”

Why don't we know more about these people and how come a group with so few numbers get so much media attention? I think that's weird. And how come the leader of the group just happened to be in the area right as the premier of Victoria conducted a press conference with multiple cameras around. Must just be an incredible coincidence."

"It's very odd actually, and none of it seems to make sense. But one thing's for sure though. These people don't speak for the views and concerns of everyday Aussies. But that said, there's no doubt how useful they've been for the government, the media and the establishment that's hellbent on trying to subdue dissent that's growing in mainstream Australia about a country in decline. And I think that's odd."

It’s not just cartoon-like. It’s convenient.

Sewell and his NSN have an uncanny ability to appear just in time to smear public dissent. They attach themselves to legitimate protests, turn up in black uniforms, salute a dead dictator in their black Helly Hansen jackets (that are emblazoned with the initals HH, that also doubles for 'Heil Hitler!'), and do just enough to poison the public perception of the event.

And somehow, they always get away with it, at least for long enough to serve their purpose.

This week’s charges against Sewell are serious. But so were the last ones. And the ones before that.

In 2023, a magistrate stated that Sewell engaged "in violent conduct" (as he and other neo-Nazis had bashed a group of hikers) of which the "maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment". But, instead of 10 years in the clink, he received a sentence of 1 month and 7 days which was deemed as fulfilled by time served. He walked away from court without even having to perform community service.

Sewell has been on the streets ever since, appearing at rallies, intimidating police, inciting violence and punching on.

This doesn’t add up.

Even a prominent extremist influencer abroad has expressed confusion. American ultra-nationalist Nick Fuentes, himself no moderate, called Sewell’s group as “Nazis and f***ing racists” playing dress-up, saying they were alienating normal people and discrediting the broader anti-immigration movement.

“What is even the point of that?” Fuentes asked. “What’s the endgame?”

What is the endgame, indeed.

In yesterday's edition of Confidential Daily, I outlined how there is precedent for government involvement in extremist theatre. In the 1970s, Dan Van Blarcom infiltrated Australian neo-Nazi circles on behalf of the Queensland Special Branch. His story was ridiculed until ASIO files confirmed every word.

The question now is not whether governments could do this sort of thing.

The question is: are they doing it again?

“Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”
– George Bernard Shaw